Existing home sales and average prices rose in the region including Springfield from August 2011 to August 2012, although the area trailed statewide increases in those categories.

Sales in the region including Clark and Champaign counties increased 10.7 percent, from 403 to 446, in August, according to data released Wednesday by the Ohio Association of Realtors. The average price rose by 1.6 percent, from $108,046 to $109,732.

Statewide, August home sales jumped 12.7 percent from the same month last year, while the average price was up 5.2 percent.

Industry officials say the increases are signs of continued recovery from the foreclosure crisis that gripped the market in recent years. They add that low interest rates mixed with uncertainty about what will happen to those rates after the presidential election could set up a stronger fall sales period than usual.

The increases were also part of a consistent growth that could run into the next calendar year, officials said.

“Right now we’re at historically low interest rates, and in election years, those rates usually stay down,” said Lori Fulk, president of the Springfield Board of Realtors. “So, depending on the outcome of the election, we’ll see where we go starting into 2013.”

August represents the end to the summer sales period, as families plan to move into new homes before the school year begins. June was the only month this year that saw a sales decrease from the previous year, but the state and region rebounded with gains in July and August.

Current interest rates are mostly between 3 and 3.5 percent, which has helped drive the sales increase. But officials caution that while there have been positive steps, the market is still below where it was before the economic slowdown.

Statewide home sales dropped from 15,605 in August 2005 to 8,322 in August 2010, a 47 percent decrease. They rebounded to 11,565 in August of this year.

Zahi Ben-David, an Ohio State assistant finance professor and housing market expert, said the sales increase says nearly as much about the sellers as it does the buyers.

“More homeowners have made peace with their loss following the burst of the bubble and move on by selling,” Ben-David wrote in an email. “In terms of sale prices, we observe an increase in those as well. The market in Ohio was stagnant in the last year, so this might be a good sign of a start of a recovery.”

Wednesday’s home sales report comes during a week when other indicators have trended in positive directions. According to Realtor.com, the number of homes for sale in the Dayton-Springfield region dropped 21 percent from August 2011 to August 2012, when 7,289 homes were on the market. In the Cincinnati region, the number of homes for sale dropped 11 percent to 9,926.

The National Association of Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index also released this week showed U.S. homebuilder confidence at its highest level in six years.

Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes grew 7.8 percent from July to August to 4.82 million last month. That was the highest sales total since tax credits boosted buying in the spring of 2010.

Realtors in the region said they hope to maintain momentum into the fall, which is traditionally a slower period for home sales.

“Last year, we went into the tank in the last quarter,” said Rick Heben, general manager for an eight-office unit of Coldwell Banker Heritage Realtors. “This year, I don’t see a slowdown. We’ve had very steady activity.”